Mississippi Goddam
| "Mississippi Goddam" | |
|---|---|
The sleeve for the promo release of the single | |
| Song by Nina Simone | |
| from the album Nina Simone in Concert | |
| Released | 1964 |
| Recorded | New York City, live at Carnegie Hall |
| Label | Philips Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Nina Simone |
| Composer(s) | Nina Simone |
| Producer(s) | Hal Mooney |
"Mississippi Goddam" is a song written and performed by American singer and pianist Nina Simone, who later announced the anthem to be her "first civil rights song". Composed in less than an hour, the song emerged in a “rush of fury, hatred, and determination” as she "suddenly realized what it was to be black in America in 1963." The song was released on her album Nina Simone in Concert in 1964, which was based on recordings from three concerts she gave at Carnegie Hall earlier that year. The album was her first release for the Dutch label Philips Records and is indicative of the more political turn her recorded music took during this period.
Together with the songs "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", "Four Women" and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", "Mississippi Goddam" is one of her most famous protest songs and self-written compositions. In 2019, "Mississippi Goddam" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".